Username Protected wrote:
Beautiful, awe-inspiring pictures.
A friend of mine works for them, and we were marvelling at a world where an Ariane launch is so reliable that we are so completely jaded by the news of it.
Here is one of my favorite pictures from a launch in 2016:
Attachment:
6-18-2016-VA230_liftoff_2.jpg
Of course I am a little biased because that happens to be a picture from one of my missions. And from experience Fabien, I can tell you that not everyone takes for granted Ariane's reliability, especially when one has several hundred million dollars and years of work riding on the tip of a controlled explosion. The stress leading up to launch is palatable, and on launch day the roomful of faces show it--- here is a video grab of me and two of my colleagues shortly after liftoff. We were frozen like, stomachs churning, until separation.
Attachment:
vidstill.jpg
The space biz is not for the meek (or the sober. Just rewatching the launch video makes me want to have a drink.
)
